Fred to Man United, not Man City

The Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder was in action at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

Roma knocked out the Ukrainians on away goals, and that’s likely to be the final time Fred represents Shakhtar in the competition.

For several months it had seemed likely that Fred would leave Shakhtar to join Man City.

Yet, in the past few days it’s become clear that the Man City deal has stalled, and Man United are poised to step into the void.

In the build up to the Roma match, both Fred and Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin paid lip-service over a possible Man United deal. And on Wednesday in the Times, readers are told:

Manchester City have cooled their interest in Fred, the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder, who could join Manchester United instead.

United have scouted Fred extensively and could move for the midfielder. Jose Mourinho, the United manager, wants to sign at least one central midfielder in the summer as Michael Carrick is retiring at the end of the season.

Man City move for Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl

Should Man City turn away from signing Fred, Borussia Dortmund and German international Julian Weigl is the next target.

While the Times namedrop the 22-year-old as a certain Pep Guardiola target, it’s unclear how much City would have to pay BVB to convince them to sell.

Weigl is sure to cost the Sky Blues a significant amount of cash as he’s under contract at the Signal Iduna Park until 2021.

It’s worth noting that Weigl is a slightly different player to Fred. The German is known for being a metronome in the middle of the pitch, while Weigl’s key attribute is his incredible vision and distribution.